#1,584 Getting Serious.

The time has come.

We’re gettin serious about the yard and shop, finally.

We’ve got a plan in place and are getting quotes from different contractors to see who can make it happen for a fair price, but we will soon be building this shop:

Except with a shingled roof, yellow walls, white trim, and stained wood doors (to match our house)… On the slab we had poured back in September.

And Jesse came over to remulch our front beds this afternoon, which has me fired up to finally put in the sidewalk herb garden I’ve been dreaming about this weekend. Here’s what we’re working with (check out that tiny triangle of flowers between the front walk and sidewalk). In 2011 we planted lantana in these beds that bloomed like crazy. AND I LOVED THEM! Was totally the cottagey, English, tiny bloom, wild look I was going for. It bloomed spring and fall for 2 years then inexplicably died and never came back. How does that happen? Seriously, how?

I might try a few lantanas again, and with any luck, we’ll have something sort of like this going on right along the sidewalk, parallell with the house at 7′ x 14′ on each side of the walkway, facing the street instead of the tiny triangle beds in the corners :

I know I really want lavender and rosemary, but PLEASE can any of you flower geniuses (I know you’re out there!) tell me what the other flowers are, or what I can use to get the effect? I’d like it to be a linear bed that goes from shortest to tallest but I don’t know a good short plant down front (something greeny and herby or cabbagey), medium in middle (lavender and rosemary?) and then something tall and wispy. Only shades of purple and white and only perennials—hopefully requiring little maintenance and blooming fall and spring. I’m open to suggestions, so please… Go!